Best of 2020 family travel: our year in review

When I write my traditional end-of-year round-up post, it’s usually an opportunity to revel in our adventures, to remember my plans and wishlists of the previous year and see where we actually managed to visit on our family travels.

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This year, obviously, there’s a bit less revelling going on. And the past 10 months of 2020 family travel certainly haven’t gone according to any plans I made… it seems laughably optimistic that I was dreaming of Georgia, Romania, Guatemala, Vietnam and Namibia, and seriously considering a trip to Egypt.

Instead we didn’t make it beyond Europe, have had plans galore cancelled and added a grand total of 0 countries to our tally. But rather than looking on the gloomy side, we have definitely made the most of the opportunities we have had – nine trips away and over a dozen days out.

Ordinarily, that wouldn’t seem too impressive, but given that we’ve spent months in lockdown as well as tier 3 and tier 4 restrictions (I’ve stopped counting precisely how much of the year), my determination to squeeze in what we could while staying safe has meant we’ve got some very fun memories to look back on, and discovered a few part of the UK which have been on my wishlist.

January

Our 2020 family travel started relatively quietly – I only had one trip confirmed, making the most of an unexpected inset day in February at my daughter’s school, with that lovely feeling of possibilities.

Instead we stayed close to home, visiting friends in Kent, and inspiring me to write a post on my favourite things to do in Kent with kids after years of visiting.

We also took a virtual trip to the Congo and Amazon, courtesy of Europe’s largest adventure golf course in north London – Lost Jungle London is one of my daughter’s favourites and somewhere we’ve managed to go back to a couple of times this year.

And with the Romans as the focus for her history lessons at school, I made a list of the best Roman places to visit in the UK as inspiration for some days out and short breaks… and started plotting an idea for February half-term.

February

The first of our two European city breaks – we headed off on the Eurostar for a long weekend in Ghent, with a day trip to Bruges thrown in. I’ve visited Bruges and Brussels before, but it was my first time here, the country’s second biggest city (by population).

And I loved it. It has all the charm of Bruges but is very much a living city rather than the slightly chocolate boxy feeling of its neighbour, plus there are so many things to do in Ghent with kids that we couldn’t squeeze them all in before it was time to come home.

Then half-term and a trip to Rome: it’s a city I adore and I was so excited to introduce Minnie to its history, its sights, its pizza. I’d dithered about whether to risk the weather in February or to wait until Easter but thankfully decided to take the chance. 

And despite repeated problems with our flights, we had a magical time – we took a child-friendly Tapsy tour of Rome as a fantastic introduction, as well as a brilliant family tour of the Colosseum and Forum and a fabulous day at gladiator school.

We wandered through the piazzas and around Trastevere, where our AirBNB in Rome was based, we explored Castel Sant’Angelo and St Peter’s Square, as well as the Isola Tiberina, braved the mouth of truth, and scoffed pizza, pasta and gelato while soaking up the history and the sun.

As we headed back, the first lockdowns were coming into effect in northern Italy: alarming, but hundreds of miles to the north, it still felt a long way from touching our life.

March/April/May

Looking back now, it seems hard to believe that I was still planning our Easter holiday at the start of March, worried that I’d left it a bit late. Recording what proved to be the last episode of the Kidventures podcast of 2020, we weren’t blase exactly, but the seriousness still hadn’t hit home.

And then everything happened very fast… I remember editing and re-editing the podcast in the couple of days which followed, as events started to overtake us. Within a week of it going live, the first restrictions were brought in, and the UK was in lockdown.

With nowhere to go but our local park (along with all the other Londoners searching for the nearest green space), I lost myself in virtual travel instead.

From virtual museums in London, to virtual city guides to Rome and Vienna, virtual beaches in the UK, virtual national parks in the US and virtual safaris in Africa, I even came up with a virtual bucket list.

There were books and films to lose myself in as well – the best non-fiction to inspire travel, as well as books to read before you visit Denmark, as well as some Disney inspiration.

But it wasn’t until May was almost up that restrictions relaxed enough for me to venture more than 15 minutes from my front door. I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed a walk quite as much as the sunny day we headed to the Chilterns near Henley for a wander through the woods and fields in a blissfully quiet piece of countryside.

June

The first attractions started reopening again, including National Trust and Kew Gardens – the ordinary everyday days out became hugely exciting after so long at home.

We headed back to Kew Gardens after lockdown twice in June alone, as well as to our nearest National Trust properties – Polesden Lacey, Osterley Park and Cliveden.

I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say the National Trust has helped save my sanity this year (and I am kicking myself for not renewing my membership of Kew back in the summer!).

July

With the school summer holidays looming (or at least the end of homeschooling), actual 2020 family travel suddenly seemed an option again – and this month saw my first press trip in months.

With camping on everyone’s minds as a socially distanced way to get away, I headed off to try some glamping in Shropshire. After the lockdown heatwave, we’d emerged into summer rain, but it was wonderful to be exploring once again, discovering some of the things to do in Shropshire with kids.

We also discovered how Warwick Castle had survived lockdown. The princesses are socially distanced, but the castle itself and the birds of prey show are as captivating as ever – after a thousand years enduring war, siege and neglect, the ancient site has had practice at triumphing over disaster.

August

I had high hopes of getting to Europe for a break over the summer, having seen friends jet off to Greece in July. But with travel corridors closing almost as soon as they opened, new quarantine regulations and the threat of getting stuck overseas, those plans all got cancelled.

I still can’t work out if I’m being optimistic to hope I use our Eurotunnel tickets before they expire in summer 2021!

Instead we made the most of being able to explore the UK with the first of two trips to Devon, staying in Exeter and heading over to Dartmoor – as well as a stop-off to see Stonehenge without the crowds along the way.

Looking back, it feels like a little pocket of normality, although in reality it was very far from normal – parts of the UK still had restrictions, many museums and indoor attractions hadn’t reopened, and pretty much everything had to be booked in advance. 

Most had done a fantastic job of bringing in new safety measures, although for the first time, we left one attraction much earlier than planned with some groups ignoring social distancing rules and mask wearing requirements.

After months in our little bubble (literal and metaphorical), it was a reminder that things really weren’t even beginning to approach normal again.

September

Another step towards normality with schools reopening in September – so with my daughter’s term beginning a bit later than most, we sneaked in another short break to Norfolk, staying in Norwich and Cromer.

After a very rainy start in Norwich – looking back, it does seem that almost every time we were able to travel, it coincided with very dodgy weather – we finally got some glorious sunshine on the coast, and set out to fit in as many beaches as we could, exploring Norfolk’s Deep History Coast along the way.

With so many things to do in Norfolk with kids, we couldn’t hope to squeeze even all the open ones in, although we managed to spot seals, visited several more National Trust properties along the way, plus sandcastles, paddling and lounging.

Back home, with London’s museums reopening after lockdown once again, we headed out to the Museum of London Docklands to see its Bronze Age hoard, and in the spirit of seizing opportunities, ambled through St James’s Park, along the South Bank and took a boat down the river towards Greenwich at the same time.

October

Not one but three trips away this month – and the last trip managed to cover Devon, Dorset and Somerset. First, another press trip, working with Visit England to encourage people to ‘escape the everyday’ and discover more of what’s on the doorstep.

For me, that meant a trip to pretty Saffron Walden in Essex. Only an hour or so from home, it’s a county I’ve visited very little, but as well as Saffron Walden itself with its medieval history and pastel houses, we got to explore English Heritage’s Audley End, nearby Thaxted with its windmill and 15th century guildhall and adventure golf with a 1066 theme.

Then an hour or so in the other direction from London, we headed to Winchester as part of a trip with Visit Hampshire.

The county is one I’ve visited a lot over the years (check out some of the things to do with kids in Hampshire if you want more inspiration) and with Winchester Science Centre reopening, we didn’t need any extra excuse to check it out after a major revamp.

While we were there, we returned to Winchester cathedral, one of my favourite things to do in Winchester with kids as well as the city’s museum.

With a reminder of how much there is that I do still want to see in the UK – and having given up on the idea of being able to book somewhere, fly there and not have to quarantine on my return – we headed off for a half-term week in the south west.

Heading down to Devon, we stopped off in Dorchester to check out the Tutankhamun exhibition there (the closest I would get to that trip to Egypt I’d hoped for!) and the Haynes Motor Museum in Somerset, before a couple of days in the South Hams.

More walks and beach time – 2020 has definitely been the year of the walk – as well as a trip on the Dartmouth Steam Railway from Kingswear to Paignton (for fish and chips by the seaside… in rain, in typical 2020 travel fashion. Good job I’ve got a list of things to do in Devon in the rain with kids!).

Then on to Dorset. Our plans to see red squirrels on Brownsea Island were scuppered by (you guessed it) rain, but we did tick off a few places from my wishlist of things to do in Dorset with kids including finding ammonites in Lyme Regis, exploring Monkey World and visiting the Bournemouth Oceanarium.

I’m already planning a return visit in better weather as there were so many more places I would have loved to see.

November

Except we didn’t even make it through the whole week in Devon and Dorset before the announcement of the next national lockdown for pretty much the whole of November… 

There’s no question it was a lot harder in the grey days of November than in the sun, although at least this time around, National Trust grounds stayed open so we escaped for a late autumn walk at Osterley once again.

Without my usual festive events to look forward to (although I still have my fingers crossed for November’s Christmas at Kew tickets, postponed to January), I had to make do with a virtual Christmas market experience.

December

If there’s one thing that this year has taught me, it’s that you can’t be slow off the mark when days out are an option – as soon as the end of lockdown was confirmed, I managed to book five days out for December, with plans to finally be able to see my parents over Christmas as well.

We had a taste of royal childhood at Kensington Palace, one of London’s Historic Royal Palaces that I’ve somehow never visited before, discovering Queen Victoria’s early years and trying our hand at some 18th century gambling.

We headed back to Wonderlab at the Science Museum for some hands-on experimentation and a look around some of the galleries that we usually miss, including a great one on communications.

Then the truly fantastic exhibition at the Natural History Museum, Fantastic Beasts: The Wonder of Nature – having booked for its original opening in the summer, I managed to snap up tickets to the rescheduled event for its new opening weekend, and it is magical.

One I’d definitely recommend once it reopens again.

Because in the space of two weeks, London went from lockdown to Tier 2, to Tier 3 to Tier 4… and for us, Christmas was cancelled, along with our planned visit to the British Museum (although we did manage to follow the winter Peter Rabbit trail at Ham House before retreating indoors).

2020 family travel: what’s next?

Last year was not the year I had planned – not the year any of us had planned. And not just when it came to our 2020 family travel plans. 

But if we haven’t travelled as far as usual, we’ve still managed to explore plenty of new places – Norfolk, Essex and Dorset are counties I’ve meant to visit for ages, while we’ve been to new corners of Devon and Shropshire, seen a couple of new London attractions, and have those fabulous memories from our Roman holiday too.

So what’s next? The other thing that this year has taught is the futility of making predictions right now. At the moment, I can’t say for certain what will happen a week from now – and unsurprisingly my diary is resolutely empty (except for those Christmas at Kew tickets!)

I can’t even predict when we’ll be out of Tier 4 restrictions (although I’m betting it’s not later this week at the next review).

On the brighter side, there is finally a vaccine – a happier thought I’m clinging too, even if I am well down the list to receive it and it’s not currently an option for kids.

I’m still dreaming of destinations like Egypt, and slightly more hopefully of a Mediterranean beach. My UK wishlist is very far from complete though – not least spotting those red squirrels.

My biggest hope is that when I come to write 2021’s round-up and look back at this post, that I’ll be able to marvel at how strange this time was… and how much things have changed.

 

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